exercise
TV, Exercise and Depression
Posted by Elvin Adams on
There are many studies that have demonstrated that the more you exercise the less likely you are to be depressed. A large study recently took a look at TV viewing and exercise in relationship to depression.
The study followed nearly 50,000 nurses, ages 30-55, for a period of ten years. During this time they were periodically questioned regarding exercise levels, TV viewing, and the presence or absence of clinical depression. No one in this group was depressed at the beginning of the study.
Depression was documented by a physician’s diagnosis of depression, the taking of anti-depressant medication, or depression diagnosed on a standardized questionnaire designed to pick up severe clinical depression.
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Avoid the CCU: Be Active!
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Owning a car and TV may raise your risk of a heart attack.
Leisure time and on-the-job physical activity is associated with less likelihood of a hearrt attack. A 52 country case-control study involving more than 10,000 individuals has revealed, after controlling for confounding factors, that both light and moderate activity reduced the risk of acute mycardial infarction (MI) compared to sedentary individuals. Researchers also found that owning a car, a radio/stero and a TV were associated with higher MI rates.
PostiveTip: Put a stop to sedentary living--become active and avoid the coronary care unit!
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Best Thing You Can Do for Your Health?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
The 10 minutes you spend watching this could be invaluable.
A lot of health misinformation and bald-faced lies circulate on the internet, so it is a pleasure to be able to recommend a very clever, informative, and entertaining presentation by Mike Evans, MD of the University of Toronto. It is called, 23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? Hit the link to enjoy.
PositiveTip: Invest 10 minutes in watching this presentation, then practice the simple principles each day.
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Fitness for Older Adults: Go4Life
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
If you are over 50, Uncle Sam wants you to be physically active!
"You are never too old to increase your level of physical activity," says Richard Hodes, MD, director of the National Institute on Aging. His agency has introduced a campaign to encourage sedentary older adults to make physical activity a part of their daily lives. Go4Life is designed to help you fit physical activity into your daily routines. The website is a plethora of valuable stories, information, exercise options, answers to common questions--even a free exercise guide and DVD.
PositiveTip: Invite a friend to become physically active with you. You can help each other stick with it.
Obesity Gene Switched Off by Exercise
Posted by Elvin Adams on
In 2007, the FTO (fat, mass, and obesity) gene was discovered which predisposes humans to develop obesity. This obesity gene is found in about 75% of people from Europe, and African Americans but only 44% of Asians.
People with one copy of the FTO gene have an increased risk of obesity of 30%. A person with two copies of the FTO gene have a risk of obesity of 70%. Dr. Ruth Loos recently did an analysis of dozens of studies that included over 200,000 individuals.
Some of the people who exercised regularly—the equivalent of walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week—turned off their obesity genes. There was an across the board 30% reduction in obesity for those who exercised, no matter how many copies of the FTO gene they had.
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Self-medicating for Anxiety Is A Fast Track To Alcohol/Drug Abuse
Posted by Galen Bosley on
Self-medicating for anxiety with alcohol and drugs can quickly lead to abuse.
Alcohol and drug abuse is often associated with anxiety disorders, but which came first? A study of 34,653 adults followed for 3 years may help answer this question. Participants having anxiety disorder at the beginning of the study and self-medicated with alcohol and/or drugs, were 2.5 times as likely to develop alcohol abuse, and had a five fold risk of drug abuse problems within three years. These substances tend to weaken the ability to deal with life issues by making sound, reasonable choices--thus compounding stressful life situations.
Exercise: Cardiovascular
Posted by Max Hammonds on
When I left my internship in 1969, I went to the Air Force Flight Medical Officer’s training program in San Antonio, Texas – in August. Another Air Force doctor was also in San Antonio – Dr. Kenneth Cooper. He was training astronauts – and Air Force personnel – using the aerobics program – aka cardiovascular exercise.
At the “suggestion” of the company commander, I was supposed to run 1 ½ miles every day. At 235 pounds, I was not prepared for this. In the August heat, I ran out a 1/4 mile and crawled back a 1/4 mile. I thought I would die. At the end of eight weeks of Flight Medical Officer School I was running 5 miles a day and had dropped 40 pounds.
Cardiovascular exercise – the fourth type of exercise in our series – is specifically designed to improve the work efficiency of the heart and lungs, i.e. improve the ability of the body to take in oxygen and get it around to all parts of the body – thus the name “aerobics.”
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Double Benefit from Being Outdoors
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Exercise outdoors improves vitamin D levels and fitness.
Regular exercise, both moderate and vigorous, contributes to healthy hearts. Harvard researchers have found those who do vigorous exercise for three or more hours per week reduce their heart attack risk by 22%. This study also suggests it may be due in part to exposure to sunshine and the resulting increased vitamin D levels.
PositiveTip: Enjoy the double benefit of outdoor physical activity: Higher vitamin D levels and better fitness!
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Moms Exercise Less When Kids are Young
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Mothers of young children get less exercise.
Canadian researchers reported at OBESITY 2011 that moms of children under 6 years of age get less physical activity than those who do not have children at home. This study found these women averaged 6.38 minutes less of moderate to vigorous intensity excercise each day--or about 45 minutes per week, almost one-third less than the recommended 150 weekly minutes!
PositiveTip: Dad, step-up and do your wife a favor: watch the kid(s) while she exercises! Short of that, Mom: bundle-up the children and take them with you for a brisk walk.
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Vertebral Discs Show New Cell Growth With Exercise
Posted by Galen Bosley on
Regular exercise stimulates new cell growth in vertebral discs in rats.
Swedish investigators reported at the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) Conference that in rats, one hour of exercise daily on a treadmill increased new cell growth in the vertebral discs compared with rats just allowed their usual activities. This is encourging news as regular daily exercise may help prevent disc related problems.
PositiveTip: Regular physical activity can improve the function of the whole body--and back. Did you get yours today?